Several theories have been advanced by many scholars to explain the relationship between gender and crime. The main belief among many scholars is that there is a significant difference in crime between two gender groups that include male and female. Although majority of these theories are believed to be right in giving explanation regarded the gender differences in crime, the masculinity hypothesis provides the best explanation. in essence, it accounts for some of the essential masculinity characteristics that can make male or female to engage in criminal activities.
The masculinity hypothesis is a theory that suggests women who commit crimes have the biological and psychological traits that are similar to those of men. The theory views that men have the traits that basically make them liable to commit crime in the society. This implies that men are more likely to commit crimes as opposed to women and that majority of women are less likely to engage in criminal activities. The norms of gender roles therefore, can play a critical role in the male experiences with crime. The theory of masculinity argues that the conformity to the masculine gender roles such as confidence, dominance, sexual success, emotional and physical self control often places men at higher risk for the engaging in criminal activities. This means that women with the masculinity oriented body can also be at a risk of participating in different forms of crime.
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The masculinity theory explains crime based on the traits and perception of men and female. Notably, men and female have different traits and thus makes them engage in different activities. For example, there are certain careers and activities that are considered to favor men as opposed to women. Many jobs that are involving and demand high level of power and energy are often dominated by men. The few female who participate in such jobs are considered to be having some elements of masculinity.
With regards to crime, it is evident that men are prone to committing crime as opposed to women. The trend can be attributed to many masculinity attributes such as power, dominance and confidence. In many cases, men have engaged in criminal acts against women such as rape and sexual harassment. On the other hand, women are less likely to commit crime such as rape and sexual harassment since they are less confident as opposed to men. However, majority of the few women who have been committed for several crimes such as sexual harassment and rape are known to exhibit some characteristics of men. It is now common that some women abuses men especially those who are married. In many cases where women abuses men, it is noted that these women have more powerful than they husbands. Since power is typically associated to men, the few women who commit crimes such as domestic violence often have the biological and psychological traits similar to those of men.
The biological and psychological traits that demonstrates masculinity includes the physical appearance, aggression, strength and homophobia. Some women with these characteristics often associate themselves with men and thus are more likely to participate in criminal activities just like men. These characteristics makes the women develop negative attitude against women and become close to men as their compatriot. Notably, homophobia can be observable in hostile and critical behavior that can include violence, hatred and discrimination based on the sexual orientation. Many cases of women who have participated in murder are known to have strength that makes them overpower their victim and ends up killing them. it is for these reason that masculinity hypothesis is the best when explaining the gender difference in crime.
